2023 finally saw the manufacturers’ return to Techno Classica, following years of pandemic and absence. Factory stages used to be the greatest asset of Techno Classica and made the show a worldwide sensation. In 2022 however, almost all of them remained absent, so we were anxious to see if and how they return this year.
Mercedes finally returned this year, but Jaguar-Land Rover, BMW and Porsche waited it out. Ford and Ferrari never left, though their presence was never at the level of factory exhibitors. The Classic divisions of the Volkswagen Group returned to Techno Classica with several brands from the Group. Volkswagen Classic, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimers, Audi Tradition, Škoda, and VW’s Autostadt itself bunked in on a large stage in Hall 3.
The oldest VW Commercial car is a 1946 VW Plattenwagen, often considered a spiritual grandfather of the VW Transporter. These post-war carryalls were assembled using Beetle-tech leftovers from the ashes of the factory warehouse.
The Plattenwagen is paired with a VW Microbus with ultimate traction control: the 1962 Volkswagen Type 2 Half-Track Fox pairs four wheels with tank tracks. This results in a traction second to none. There is a catch, however, the traction does not have to battle an immense power. The VW “tank” is still powered by the original 1.2-litre flat-4, delivering an underwhelming 33 horsepower. With that, the vehicle can hardly surpass 35 km/h, so its striking orange colour is more than justified.
The Commercial buses are paired with a few exotics from VW’s iconic Autostadt, the automotive theme park home to all the brands that belong to the conglomerate, like the Porsche 356.
VW’s stage is all about its iconic Passat celebrating its 50th anniversary. In 1973, the Passat dawned a new era with an excellent new design courtesy of Giorgetto Giugiaro. He was also in charge of many other success stories from Wolfsburg, like the first Golf and the Scirocco.
The motto of the exhibition was titled “Always new” (as a car that kept reinventing itself ), lining up several generations up to the “pig nose” B3 generation with a few exciting versions, like the one-off Passat B2 Electronic from 1983.
Audi Tradition honoured the 40th anniversary of its racing history and the 25th anniversary of its iconic TT model.
The TT celebrates its 25th birthday this year, and the Audi Tradition stage honours the anniversary with a yellow TT. Audi’s iconic sportscar series premiered in 1998 and has attracted fans worldwide with its purist design. Kobe Bryant was a big fan (literally : ) ), who even took inspiration from the car’s design.
The Audi TT is closely linked to the history of Audi Hungary, starting as an engine-assembly plant in 1993 and taking over the final assembly of the Audi TT in 1998.
Audi Sport celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2023 as it originates in Quattro GmbH, founded in 1983. Audi Tradition honoured the racing division with two Quattro race cars.
The 1980 Audi Rallye Quattro R-6 was an early development, and this was the sixth Rallye car produced. The vehicle was entered in European Rally Championship races and later served as a training car for Michele Mouton.
The most prominent car is a 1985 Sport Quattro S2 E2, the latest development of the Rallye Quattro in line with the regulations on homologating evolutions every twelve months. The car became an icon of the Group B era and also caused the segment’s demise.
The Sport Quattro E2 debuted in early July 1985 at the Olympus Rally in the US (not part of the WRC calendar), where Hannu Mikkola drove it to victory. Walter Röhrl scored the only win of the E2 in a world championship race at the San Remo Rally in 1985. After an accident at the 1986 Rally Portugal, where 3 spectators were killed and 33 injured, Audi withdrew from the World Rally Championship for the time being.
Škoda returned with a complete stage, recalling the glorious pre-pandemic years of the show, presenting race cars and flagship vehicles.
A particular highlight of their stage was a recently renovated Škoda Hispano-Suiza from 1928. The high-end luxury vehicle was produced under a licence from the Franco-Spaniard Hispano-Suiza brand, deriving from their model H6B.
A mere 100 Hispano-Suiza 25/100 KS vehicles line rolled off the Škoda assembly line between 1926 and 1929. The car was a state of the art of its time, featuring a 6.6-litre OHC six-cylinder petrol engine producing 100 HP at 1,600 rpm. The vehicle could reach speeds of over 120 km/h.
Only a handful of Škoda Hispano-Suizas have survived, and this one also had a colourful history, surviving the communist era with a conversion into a fire truck. Since 2010, the vehicle has been part of the Škoda Museum collection, where an extensive renovation project began in August 2019. They carried out a thorough research of archives, to restore the car to its original grandeur.
The classic Art Deco Hispano-Suiza is paired with a modern post-war Škoda Superb OHV sedan from 1948. In 1968, after 20 years of service, this car became one of the first acquisitions of the Škoda Museum. A few years ago, the vehicle underwent a complete renovation in 2019.
The little red car is a 1959 Škoda 1100 OHC Coupé. The Check company converted two open-top Škoda 1100 OHC racing barchettas with hard-tops for endurance circuit races. The naturally aspirated inline-four 1,100 cc engine produced 92 HP at 7,700 rpm.
Combined with a lightweight aluminium body with a weight of only 555 kg, allowing a top speed of over 200 km/h. Both coupés were destroyed in crashes, but one was recently reconstructed using preserved components and original documents at Škoda Auto’s prototyping centre.
The modern days are invoked by the 20-year-old Škoda Fabia WRC, which debuted at the 2003 Deutschland Rally.
Mercedes Classics returned to the Mercedes Hall.
The factory classic car division of Mercedes-Benz returned to Essen with professional decoration and exceptional exhibits, including the last Mercedes-Benz 600 Grosser ever built and a CLK GTR Roadster.
The oldest car is a Mercedes 500K from 1935, along with two impressive 300SL roadsters from the post-war period.
The Mercedes-Benz 600 Grosser (Grand Mercedes) with the model code W100 celebrates the 60th anniversary of its premiere in 1963. The 600 was designed to be the international benchmark of the automotive top class and remained in production for 17 years until 1981. Mercedes-Benz implemented individual and unusual customer wishes, provided they did not change the fundamental character of the automobile or come at the expense of safety. This made each Mercedes-Benz 600s unique (over 2500 specimens were built, including 487 Pullman versions. Many became collectors’ items after their period of use, and we still encounter them at auctions.
The buyers of the prestige limousine came from all over the world and in various social circles. Mercedes had high hopes to see buyers from the spheres of royalty, heads of state and celebrities from industry and show business. The 600 can brag with an impressive list of owners, including actors, rock stars and tycoons but also some of the wrong kind of reputable, like communist leaders and dictators.
In addition to the 600 and a pair of sexy 300SL roadsters, the central stage featured a very impressive CLK GTR from 2002. The CLK GTR Roadster was the road-legal derivative of the CLK GT1, ordinally sold for homologation purposes. Ultimately half a dozen cars were built from the spare carbon monocoques left in storage. Their rarity combined with astronomic prices makes them a true auction unicorn.
Last year Mercedes’ presence was limited to car clubs that filled the area of Hall1 dedicated to Mercedes. This year, they also did their job, showcasing models of all major model series here.
A few cars to highlight is the baby blue W126 with a tailor-made five-door bodywork. The vehicle started its life as the 500SEL in 1982, delivered in Osaka to a sculptor named Yayoi Kusama. She used the car to inspire her art activities, making it an art car.
In 1984 the artist transformed the vehicle with a new body design. The car was completely disassembled and rebuilt again. The body was modified from the C-pillar / above the window line by extending the roof line to what the current owner describes as a “Shooting Break station wagon”.
The tailgate has been redesigned and fitted with the original rear window. All conversion parts have been manually formed and made from sheet metal. The rear end below the former trunk lid remained unchanged, including rear lights and bumper. After the conversion, the vehicle was no longer driven on the road and served as a standing exhibit in Kusama’s studio and in various art galleries in Japan.
Another recurring favourite is the McLaren SLR Sterling Moss advertising their club. Considering that some 75 cars were sold worldwide, we are not expecting mass turnouts at the club gatherings… Though we saw two Sterling Moss editions at the show, a feat comparable to when Chuck Norris counted to infinity. Twice…
If you are afraid of crowds, the pre-war Kompressor club might also work for you just fine.
Ferrari brought classic icons with a bit of help from the factory Museum
Ferrari was among the few brands that performed above its pre-pandemic level. As in previous years, German classic car specialists showcased their cherished pieces. In particular, Eberlein Automobile, officially authorised Officina Ferrari Classiche dealer, presented brilliant specimens.
Of course, many other traders brought expensive rarities on their stages, including Lucas Hüni, who returned to Essen (more on traders in the following article).
Michael Schumacher’s Formula 1 racing car from the 2005 season took centre stage. For those who want to see more, we recommend visiting the Schumacher collection in Cologne, about half an hour’s drive from Essen.
The stage featured decoration honouring the upcoming exhibitions (Game changers in the Casa Ferrari and a tribute to the Fiorano track at the Maranello Scuderia Museum) of the Ferrari Musei, a must-see for those visiting Toscana.
The 60th anniversary of Lamborghini was honoured by the organisers’ stage
60 years of Lamborghini is the dedicated theme of the organiser SIHA’s booth. Their exhibition honoured the iconic Italian brand with fascinating exhibits, including two Miuras, an Espada, an Islero and two Countach specimens, including an early LP400 Periscopo.
Ford continues to build on quantity but also shows quality
Ford usually arrives with a blue carpet and moderate decoration, hosting a diverse selection of classics. This year was no exception, but Ford’s quarters hosted several memorable cars. Our favourite is the 1919 Ford T Wanderwell record car.
Aloha Wanderwell was a Canadian explorer travelling over 500.000 kilometres across 80 countries. In the 1920s, she became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe in a Ford 1918 Model T. She was just 16 years old when she started in 1922, and the journey took five years to complete. She was also an author, filmmaker, and aviator and lived a very long life dying at the age of 89.
The Aston Workshop returned to Essen with a lovely selection
As with previous years, the Aston Workshop brought their favourite restoration projects to Essen. Their stage featured cars from every decade, colours and shapes.
Melkus returned with the usual stage
The Melkus RS1000 Register is a regular exhibitor in Essen with a small stage but a lot of content.
They showcased the same cars as last year, one in perfect showroom shine, while the other was only 50% ready. This second RS1000, however, was prepared as a tech demo with chassis, engine and suspension still naked under the metal sheet. Now they have finished the project.
A Japanese line-up showcased iconic Hondas,
This simple but refreshing stage featured iconic Japanese cars, like the Gen 2 CRX, S2000 and a Civic Type R.
We hope you enjoyed this rapid summary as much as we did enjoy the show. Below we leave a little poll to see which car you liked best among our shortlisted favourites.
